By Dashnor Kaloçi
Part Sixteen
Memorie.al / From the end of November 1944, when he officially came to power, until his death in 1985, the communist dictator Enver Hoxha, wanting to emulate his idol, Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin, and following his “path,” would occasionally carry out purges in the high leadership of the PPSH (Albanian Party of Labour). He had practically started this from 1941, with Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte, continued with Koçi Xoxe (and his group) in 1948-’49, and ended in 1981-’82, with the so-called “hostile group of Mehmet Shehu and Kadri Hazbiu.” In this time interval of more than four decades, as is already known, he eliminated almost all the founders of the Albanian Communist Party, the members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPSH, and the main leaders of the so-called “National Liberation Anti-Fascist War.” As a result, from 1960 until the collapse of the communist regime in 1990, only Pilo Peristeri had escaped prison or internment, enjoying privileges as a perpetual candidate of the Political Bureau and the function of director of the “Enver Hoxha” Autotractor Combine!
However, unlike what he had done until the early ’70s, where Enver Hoxha’s “sword” had fallen mainly on the high leadership of the PKSH (Albanian Communist Party), (Koçi Xoxe, Kristo Themelko, Sotir Vullkani, Ramadan Çitaku, Tuk Jakova, Bedri Spahiu, Liri Gega, Gjin Marku, Koço Tashko, Liri Belishova, etc.), whom he had accused of “deviating from the Party line” and had condemned as “traitors and enemies of the people,” in the mid-’70s, the dictator Enver Hoxha began to strike against some members of the Political Bureau who also held ministerial posts, such as Abdyl Këllezi and Koço Theodhosi, accusing them also as “saboteurs of the Socialist Economy”!
And just as he had done with Beqir Balluku, Petrit Duma, and Hito Çako (who were sentenced to death and executed), where, to prove their “hostile activity,” Enver Hoxha also sentenced a large group of senior officers to prison and internment. Similarly, with the so-called “Economic Sabotage Group,” which, in addition to Këllezi and Theodhosi, also included the two ministers Kiço Ngjela and Vasil Kati, some senior officials of the Trade sector were accused and sentenced, including well-known directors and specialists such as Andrea Manço, Ahmet Jegeni, Bardhyl Frashëri, etc., as well as those from the Oil sector, such as well-known leaders, engineers, and specialists like Filip Nashi, Beqir Alija, Koço Plaku, Milto Gjikopulli, Protoko Murati, Dhimitër Stefa, Jani Konomi, Nuredin Skrapari, etc.
As we will see in the documents in question, the investigative process against the so-called “Hostile and Sabotage Group of the Economy,” which the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security had carried out with fabricated accusations and false testimonies or those obtained under torture, etc., was also continued by the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of Albania, headed by Aranit Çela, “channeling” the accusations from a “legal” standpoint to “prove” what Enver Hoxha had said in the Plenums of the Central Committee of the PPSH against Abdyl Këllezi, Koço Theodhosi, Kiço Ngjela, Vasil Kati, etc.
Much has been said and written about all these individuals since the ’90s, by members of those “groups,” their family members, etc. Memorie.al has secured the archival documents of the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of Albania of that time and the former Presidium of the People’s Assembly, where the “Hostile Group of the Economy,” “Trade,” and “Oil” were reviewed. These documents are seeing the light of publication for the first time, and we are publishing them in several issues, along with the corresponding photos and facsimiles.
In the first and second parts of this series of articles, we published documents about the former director of Makinaimport, Andrea Manço, originally from the village of Boboshtica in Korça, whose brother, Todo Manço, had served for years as chief engineer and director of the Bulqiza chromium mine, and also as a member of the People’s Assembly for several legislatures. When he passed away on November 6, 1974, a grand funeral ceremony was held for him, with tributes in the center of Tirana, where in addition to Enver Hoxha, the entire high leadership of the PPSH, led by Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, participated. While Todo Manço (“Hero of Socialist Labour”) received all these honors, his brother, Andrea, almost two years later, would be tortured in the cells of the State Security and sentenced to death by firing squad as an “enemy of the people” and “agent of foreign agencies,” and his grave has still not been found! In this article, we are publishing the documents about the so-called “Hostile Group in the oil sector,” led by well-known cadres and engineers, Filip Nashi, Beqir Alija, Koço Plaku, Dhimitër Stefa, Protoko Murati, Milto Gjikopulli, Nuredin Skrapari, Jani Konomi, etc., as well as the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Republic of Albania, where the request of those sentenced to death, Koço Plaku, Andrea Manço, and Milto Gjikopulli, to have their lives spared was reviewed.
Continued from the previous issue
THE REPORT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, SENT TO THE INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE AND THE GENERAL PROSECUTOR, WITH THE ORDER OF MINISTER KADRI HAZBIU, FOR THE EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD OF THE THREE CONVICTS SENTENCED TO DEATH, KOÇO PLAKU, MILTO GJIKOPULLI AND ANDREA MANÇO
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA SECRET
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Only Copy
Tirana, June 28, 1976
SUBJECT: On the execution by death (firing squad) of three convicts.
TO THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
TO THE INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE
For Information: TO THE GENERAL PROSECUTOR OF THE PRSA
TIRANA – Based on decision No. [blank] dated May 20, 1976 and decision No. 13 dated June 17, 1976 of the Criminal College of the Supreme Court of the PRSA, the following persons have been sentenced to death (by firing squad):
Andrea Manço
Koço Plaku
Milto Gjikopulli
Since the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, with letter No. 400 dated June 26, 1976, announced the rejection of their request for a pardon:
I ORDER:
The convicts Andrea Kristaq Manço, Koço Josif Plaku, and Milto Vasil Gjikopulli, are to be executed by death (firing squad) at the appointed location on June 28, 1976 at 24:00.
I task the Directorate of Internal Affairs in Tirana with the execution of the convicts.
Before the execution, the defendants are to be notified that their request for a pardon has been rejected by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly.
After the execution, the person tasked with this duty shall prepare the minutes of the execution of the verdict, including the last words of the executed individuals, separately for each one, and send it to the Investigation Directorate.
MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Kadri Hazbiu
THE REPORT OF THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DIRECTORATE OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF TIRANA, KADRI GOJASHI, SENT TO THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND THE INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE, ON THE EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD OF THE THREE CONVICTS SENTENCED TO DEATH, KOÇO PLAKU, MILTO GJIKOPULLI AND ANDREA MANÇO
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Tirana, July 2, 1976
Temporary for 2 years
TO THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
TO THE INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE
(Branch I)
Tirana
Attached to this letter, we are sending you 2 copies of the minutes on the execution of the convicts sentenced to death by firing squad: Koço Plaku, Milto Gjikopulli, and Andrea Manço, who were executed on June 28, 1976 at 24:00 according to the order of the Minister, No. 552/1, dated June 28, 1976.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
(KADRI GOJASHI)
MINUTES
Held in Tirana, on June 28, 1976, by me, Kadri Gojashi, Koço Josifi, with the assistance of the Deputy General Prosecutor, comrade Sotiraq Samara, and the doctor Nevrat Vigani, regarding the execution of the convicts sentenced to death by firing squad: Koço Plaku, Milto Gjikopulli, and Andrea Manço.
Based on the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, No. 552/1, dated June 28, 1976, on June 28, 1976, at 24:00, the following convicts were taken from the isolation rooms of Unit 313, Tirana:
- Koço Plaku, son of Josif, born in 1929, from Hoçisht, Korçë district, and residing in Fier. Sentenced to death by firing squad by the Supreme Court with decision No. 13 dated June 27, 1976.
- Milto Gjikopulli, son of Vasil, born in 1930, from Dhërmi, and residing in Fier. Sentenced to death by firing squad by the Supreme Court with decision No. 13 dated June 17, 1976.
- Andrea Manço, son of Kristaq, born in 1923, from Boboshtica, Korçë district, residing in Tirana. Sentenced to death by firing squad by the Supreme Court with decision No. 11 dated May 28, 1976.
After the defendants were taken to the place of execution, they were informed by the Deputy General Prosecutor, comrade Sotiraq Samara, that their request for a pardon had been rejected by the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, with decision No. 381/1, dated June 28, 1976. The convicts were then asked if they had anything to say.
The convict Koço Plaku said in his last words: “I am guilty of everything, but I am not a spy.”
The convicts Milto Gjikopulli and Andrea Manço did not speak at all.
After the execution was carried out and the doctor certified their death, the burial took place.
The minutes were prepared in 3 copies, of which 2 copies were sent to the Investigation Directorate, and 1 copy was kept in the archive of the Directorate of Internal Affairs in Tirana. / Memorie.al
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DIA TIRANA
Kadri Gojashi
DEPUTY GENERAL PROSECUTOR
Sotiraq Samara
INVESTIGATOR
Koço Josifi
DOCTOR
Nevzat Vigani
